


Recognition

by Rulerofyouall



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Dead Catherine Todd, Drug Abuse, Drug Addiction, Drug Dealing, Drug Use, Drugs, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Jason Todd Deserves Better, Jason Todd Has Issues, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Jason Todd is Robin, Jason Todd-centric, Jason-centric, Minor Character Death, Past Character Death, Past Drug Use, Protective Bruce Wayne, Recreational Drug Use, Shyness, Wayne Gala (DCU)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-13 08:48:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28775589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rulerofyouall/pseuds/Rulerofyouall
Summary: Jason goes to a gala for the first time. He recognizes some people but doesn't want to ruin the night for Bruce.
Relationships: Catherine Todd & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne
Comments: 8
Kudos: 171





	Recognition

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing!

Jason was not having a good time. He would rather be curled up on a chair with a good book or two in the library that sitting there, focusing solely on ignoring everyone around him. Bruce had dressed him earlier that night; he certainly wouldn't have chosen any of these clothes for himself. The tiny suit Bruce had had tailored for him was black, and he had been given a red pocket square. His collar was far too stiff for his liking, almost like it would choke him out if he leaned down for too long.

He felt far out of place. Everyone around him spoke in numbers and with terms he didn't care about. They tossed around food and dollar bills as though there weren't starving children in the same fucking city, and Jason hated it. All of these people would have been prime targets during his pick pocketing days, and they didn't even seem to notice. They took everything they had for granted and didn't even consider that one day they could lose everything.

They had all these unspoken rules Jason knew nothing about. There were an endless number of different forks, all used for different things, and they expected him to use a napkin every five seconds. There were women and even a few men all over Bruce about ten feet a way, and he looked so different from how he usually did. This wasn't the man who had adopted him; it was Brucie Wayne, the playboy. Jason sometimes wondered why the hell he was even required to come. No one spoke to him, and no one bothered to even glance at him. He was a street rat, a poverty stricken Crime Alley scum. He was the lowest of the low at this gala. They looked down their noses at him as if he was nothing but a mosquito.

The rich people had given him a little bit of attention when he first got there, pinching his cheeks and complimenting Bruce on his "cute son," but they stopped even looking at him when an appropriate amount of time had passed. He was grateful for that, sinking into the corner of the room and trying to melt into the curtains.

He didn't like any of these people. They pretended to care about the plights of the poverty stricken, but they really didn't. Jason didn't see an ounce of their "charity" when he was younger, and now, they looked at him like trash.

The people here were strange. They wouldn't stop talking, but they were _saying_ nothing at all. He didn't recognize a lot of them, but some of them were politicians that he knew of. They never did anything for his neighborhood either.

The other people he recognized were even worse. While the politicians were shitty, they never personally came and fucked with his life, but some of the others...had. A few of them dealt drugs, and others were pedophiles and human traffickers. He got used to avoiding all of them.

One of the dealers stuck out to him. He knew one of them particularly well and had since he was very, very young. His throat closed at the thought of the man. He had ruined everything.

His name was Lindsay Bianchi, and he would prey on addicts, raising the prices of his drugs more and more as time went on. Jason sunk further into the curtains but never stopped staring at the man.

That man killed his mother.

Realistically, he knew that Bianchi hadn't been the one to stick her with the drugs himself, but he had provided them to her, led her on for years and years. He knew that she would eventually die from her addiction. He kept selling them to her anyway.

Jason hated the man with every fiber of his being. He destroyed his mother's health and drained the Todd family's finances, and the lack of money in turn made his biological father angry more and more often. And that made him hit both Jason and his mother very, very frequently, which made his mom turn to even more drugs. Since that further messed up their financial situation, everything just continued to spiral until they had nothing left.

He wanted Bruce, but he was too busy entertaining a large group of socialites. Were they more important than him? Is that why he was alone? He didn't want to be alone anymore, especially not when that man was in his line of sight.

He also wanted to leave. He didn't want to see that man ever again, and he wished that he would be taken care of. Whether that meant him being put in prison forever or just simply dying, he didn't care, but be didn't want Bianchi to ruin any other person's life. He knew that he had started selling to children too. For the longest time, he had thought that he sold to adults exclusively, but when he was on the streets, he saw that his assumption was incorrect.

Jason fidgeted a bit, trying to force himself to stay still. He felt his eyes burn as water filled them. This man had fucked up his life.

_"Mom?"_

_It was silent._

_"Mom, where are you?" Jason wandering through the tiny apartment that they were able to afford._

_His biological father hadn't been back for days. He said he was on a "business" trip, but Jason knew that that was an excuse. He wasn't sure what it was for though. Was he seeing another woman? Had he gotten arrested again? Injured? He didn't give a fuck, but it was upsetting his mom._

_Now, he couldn't find her._

_"Mama?" He knocked on the door of the bathroom. It was the only room left, and light was shining through the crack in the door. "Are you in here?"_

_There was no answer, so he cracked the door open. It hit something and wouldn't move further, but Jason was small enough to squeeze through._

_His mom was on the floor. She was what was stopping the door from opening fully._

_"Mom, that's a weird place to fall asleep." He poked her cheek. "Wake up."_

_She wouldn't wake up._

_"Mom? It's Jason." He glanced to her arm, noticing that a needle was still poking out of it. Sighing, he carefully took it out._

_She was pale and cold. His mom looked as though she could have simply fallen asleep if not for the needle in her arm and the foam in her mouth. Jason's chest tightened, and he shook her again. She couldn't be dead. No, his mom couldn't die and leave him with his father._

_"Mom, wake up please." He begged. "This isn't funny anymore."_

_She didn't wake up again._

"Jason?"

He shook himself out of his flashback as his eyes focused on his new father's, his better father's gaze. Bruce had left the group of socialites to hang out with him in the corner, and the rich people scattered to talk to others instead of getting close to him, the street vermin. But Bruce didn't care. He was willing to get close to him.

"Hi, Bruce."

"Are you doing okay, Jaylad?"

Jason swallowed deeply. "I'm fine." He couldn't ruin Bruce's gala for him.

Bruce shot him a disbelieving look. "Are you sure?"

He was obviously giving the kid an opportunity to correct himself, but Jason just shrugged. Even if Jason didn't like galas, that didn't mean that Bruce had to hate him. These events were important for his public image and to keep up the Brucie persona that helped hide his identity as Batman.

"What's bothering you, kid?"

"I know some of these people."

He frowned. "But this is your first gala."

"From the streets, Bruce." 

Bruce's eyes slowly widened as he took that information in. "And these people....are they bad?"

"Yes," he nodded. "I don't want to be around them."

"Can you tell me which ones are bad people?" 

Jason bit his lip. Would Bruce believe him? He had probably known these people for a long time, longer than he had known Jason. They were also much older than him, so most people would consider them more reliable. Jason hadn't been the most genuine of people on the streets either. Bruce had found him _stealing_ when they first met!

"Jason?" He prompted once again.

Jason looked up from where he had been fiddling with the sleeve of his suit jacket. "Later. Not here."

"Okay." Bruce paused for a few moments. "You want to get out of here?"

"What do you mean? This is your gala, so you have to stay!" He gaped. Was Bruce really willing to leave his party just because he was uncomfortable?

"I've stayed here long enough to keep appearances." He stood up, holding a hand out to his son. "Come on, Jaylad. We can go watch a movie or something."

Jason spared one more glance to Bianchi, and Bruce followed his gaze. His father leant down and put both his hands under Jason's armpits before lifting the boy into the air.

He hadn't realized how much he had wanted the physical touch and immediately wrapped his arms around Bruce's neck. One of the older man's arms dropped to support his lower half, and Bruce turned on his heel before all but marching towards the exit. Jason buried his face in Bruce's neck, not wanting to see the disgusted looks the socialites were most likely sending them.

They didn't matter. All he cared about right now was hanging out with Bruce.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated!


End file.
